When working with modules of this kind, which are known from the German Patent Application DE 102 50 434 A1, it is advantageous that the number of structural components required for assembling a fuel cell arrangement be reduced, and that the assembly operation be able to be carried out using fewer individual production steps. Moreover, no additional measures are required to fix the plates in position, since this is accomplished by the sealing element which is joined non-positively and/or positively to the plates. In this context, the plates are mostly designed as bipolar plates and are intended for use in PEM fuel cells. The sealing element is frequently placed on the plates during an injection molding process. It is disadvantageous in this context that shrinkage processes occurring in the sealing element can lead to local leakage between the plates, which can cause cooling fluid or fuel cell gases to overflow, or that sealing material is pressed into the intermediate space between the plates, thereby resulting in an increased electrical resistance due to a gap effect. It is difficult to carry out quality assurance and inspection measures on sealing arrangements of this kind, since a non-destructive examination of the sealing site is not possible.